Ume Blossoms
by ShotDownSkyRail
Summary: I love my village. As a kunoichi of Konohagakure, I will do anything it takes to protect it. Even marry a possibly psychopathic traitor, and bare his children to save the village from war. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
1. Chapter 1

_**WHAT? **_

All the breath in my body left me in a _whoosh_ of sound. I struggled to keep my face neutral, and free of emotion. Mind racing, I cleared my throat, not because of need to, but out of nervous habit.

"Forgive me, Lady Tsunade, but I don't think I heard you correctly. Could you repeat that for me?" Her sigh was long suffering, and the glare directed at me could have melted metal with its intensity.

"You heard me the first time, Koizumi, but I will humor you. You have been selected to assist Uchiha Sasuke in the revival of the Uchiha clan." Honey brown eyes assessed me, waiting for my response. My heart pounded in my chest, before jumping into my throat to jackhammer away at my pulse point.

"I – I don't understand, Lady Tsunade." _Surely there has been a mistake, she can't possibly be serious._

"It's not brain surgery, Koizumi." A pointed look sent a red flush up my neck to my face, all the way to the roots of my dark, curly hair, against my wishes.

"I understand what you mean about reviving the clan, Lady Tsunade. What I don't understand, is, well, why me? If I might be so bold as to ask." _Why is this happening now? _

Word of Uchiha Sasuke had been sparse for the last few years, and Koizumi Akemi had assumed, along with many others, that he had either lost interest in his home village or he had been killed in his quest to avenge his fallen clan. She had never spoken with him personally, being a year older than him and such, not to mention civilian born. She, along with the rest of Konoha, knew of his past and his plans for the future. His name had become a sort of taboo around the village, especially when in the presence of the Rookie Nine or his former teammates.

"Simply put, he chose you out of the list of candidates that were sent to him." My brows furrowed in confusion. My expression was met with another heaving sigh.

"Several weeks ago, we received a message from the Uchiha." The Fifth Hokage reached into one of her desk drawers and pulled a scroll from within its depths. "He has offered up a treaty with the Leaf, so long as his demands are met." She passed the scroll across the desk to me. With trembling hands, I opened the scroll, skimming its contents as the Godaime continued.

"He has succeeded in avenging his clan, and now wishes to start the revival process." The Godaime leaned across desk to look into my eyes. "For the past several months, the Leaf has been receiving Intel that the Uchiha wishes to bring war to our village in response to the wrongs done to the Uchiha clan at the hands of The Council. He will drop these threats, if we provide him a spouse and future mother to his children, as well as the charge of Traitor being dropped from his name and the Uchiha Compound being returned to his ownership." The Godaime leaned back in her desk chair, regarding me coolly.

"I believe I understand the reasons that you are agreeing to his terms, Lady Tsunade. War right now would be the end of Konohagakure. Our economy is currently fragile, and war would be the straw that broke the metaphoric camel's back." The Godaime nodded her head approvingly. "What I still have trouble understanding is why he chose me, why not Haruno-san? Or one of the clan heiresses such as Yamanaka-san or Hyuuga-san? I am a civilian born kunoichi, with no high ranking social status, other my rank as a Jounin." As much as I wanted to deny the Godaime what she was asking of me, I knew I would never be able to live with myself if anyone were to be harmed by the Uchiha, when I could have stopped it.

"I cannot answer that question unfortunately, but I assume it has to do with the fact that you _are _civilian born. He has no need to worry about his Kekkei Genkai not being passed down because of another bloodline limit. You are, figuratively, a blank slate." _It wasn't supposed to be like this._

"He wants me to marry him and bear his children?" The blood pounding in my head could make any dubstep fan proud, and I started to feel faint. The Godaime's face softened, uncharacteristically.

"I understand that this is a lot to take in all at once, Koizumi, but it is now, more than ever, that your village needs you." I felt myself nodding, but I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes. _Love wasn't supposed to be like this._

"When will he be coming back to the village?" Forcing my face into a blank kunoichi mask, I resolutely stared at wall behind the Godaime's head. _Marriage wasn't supposed to be like this. _

"We will first have to send word of your agreement to the arranged marriage, after that, it should be a couple of weeks before he returns, and then the wedding will take place a few weeks after that. You have time." _Having children wasn't supposed to be like this._

"Time for what, Milady?" I straightened my spine reflexively.

"How long have I been Hokage of this village, Koizumi? How many missions have I assigned to you? I seem to remember many. How well do I know you? Admittedly not as well as others, but I do know you well enough to know that you need time to process this, and prepare, and time is what you will have. You are making a great sacrifice for this village, Akemi, and we will all appreciate. The least we can do is ensure that you are allowed the time to cope in your own way." As much as I appreciated Lady Tsunade's kindness, I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge it.

"I accept the terms of the Uchiha's treaty." Lady Tsunade nodded, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flash of sadness in her honey colored eyes. She turned to the ANBU member standing in the corner of the room.

"Bring me Hatake Kakashi." Nodding, the ANBU disappeared in swirl of light. Minutes later, he returned, one Copy Nin in tow. He glanced between the two of us, before turning his full attention to the Hokage. She nodded to him ruefully.

"We need a witness in order for this document to be signed legally." It was hard to tell what the Copy Nin was thinking, with his face being covered and all, but after beat he nodded his consent and stepped closer to the desk. I looked to Lady Tsunade expectantly. She paused before passing me a blank scroll as well as a pen. My hand was shaking something fierce as I began to write out my acceptance of the Uchiha's offer.

"_I, Koizumi Akemi, of sound state of mind, do hereby accept the marriage proposal of Uchiha Sasuke."_

Water began to cloud my vision, and tears, as well as fear of the future clogged and tightened my throat painfully.

"_I also accept the responsibility of reviving the Uchiha clan."_

My hand stopped shaking as I finished writing out the document, signing my name as well as the date, before passing the pen to Hatake-san. His one visible eye widened a minuscule amount, before he scribbled out his witness statement, and then handed the document over to the Fifth. She signed it herself, and then called forth a messenger bird to send the acceptance letter to the Uchiha. It wasn't until after the bird had left the office that anyone spoke.

"Koizumi, I thank you for your service to the Leaf." While her words rang hollowly in my ears, her eyes were sincere, and I nodded appropriately to the Godaime.

"May I be excused, Milady? I have much to prepare." She gazed at me for a few more moments, before nodding again. I bowed to her as well as the Copy Nin respectfully, before making a B-line for the door.

"Akemi." I paused, doorknob in my grasp. "For what it's worth, I'm glad it's you that will be reviving them. Maybe this time, the Uchihas will be a kind people, as well as proud."

"I hope so, too, Milady."

I was out the door and gone in a swirl of Ume petals before she could respond.

A/N: I do not own any of the Naruto characters or plots. I only own my OCs as well as my plot.


	2. Chapter 2

_Name: Koizumi Akemi_

_Age: 19_

_DOB: 02-06-1992_

_Height: 162 cm*_

_Weight: 55 kg*_

_Rank: Jounin_

Uchiha Sasuke glanced over the file in his hands again, the information on the sheet somewhat familiar to him now. A few pictures of the girl in question were stacked neatly on the table in front of him, also familiar to him. She was a small thing, he would surely tower over her at his impressive height of 182 cm*.

_Mission History:_

_A – 6_

_B – 24_

_C – 14_

_D – 17_

All notated missions were ruled as successful except for one A class mission. He supposed that was a somewhat impressive record for a shinobi of her caliber. She was fairly pathetic when it came to genjustu, but had nearly glowing recommendations in taijustu and ninjustsu, specializing in sound based attacks and chakara control, with an affinity to wind. Fire bested wind, so if it were to ever come to blows between them, he had no doubt he could overpower her easily. Shifting the papers in his hands around, he pulled her extended medical history to the front of the file. He ignored the medical terminology that he didn't understand and skipped straight to the Medic Notes. He vaguely recognized the name scrawled by each note, and a pale face, wrinkled with old age came to mind, but he wasn't certain if he was remembering the correct medic.

_Age 6: Patient was brought to hospital by her parents. Treated patient for a mild case of bronchitis* with a Steroid shot as well as a Zithromax Z-Pak*._ _Age 13: Jounin sensei dropped the patient off at the infirmary. Patient treated for a broken left humerus*, healed completely but will most likely remain weaker than other bones for the remainder of the patient's life. _ _Age 15: Patient brought into infirmary with severe blood loss from a large slice type wound on the upper right thigh. Damaged and sliced muscle almost all the way to the femur*. Clean cut, most likely by a close range kunai attack or a katana. Required extensive chakara support as well 57 stitches. Patient will be off duty until the wound fully heals and then sent to physical therapy for 2 weeks, 3 days a week. Further care instructions will be decided upon after first round of physical therapy._ _Age 17: Patient was treated for fractured metacarpus* in the left hand. Fractures were similar to those seen in a boxer's fracture*. Fractures were healed with chakara support and patient will be returning in a week for follow up visit to check the structure and stability of the left hand. _ Either she was fairly healthy and could take care of herself, or she was too stubborn to go the infirmary until she was forced to do so, by pain or the people around her. Either way, it didn't matter to him, so long as she cared for his heirs and she didn't die on him before he received those heirs. He laid the file neatly on his desk before grabbing the provided pictures of Koizumi Akemi. She was pretty, in an average sort of way. Her face was rounded with a somewhat chiseled jaw line, and soft Asian features gave her a youthful look. She would contrast sharply against him, where he was pale and sharp featured, she was olive-toned, her skin a nice warm tan. Her nose was straight and small, fitting her face nicely (thank Kami). Her lips were pouty, almost looking too full for her face. He shifted the pictures in his hands, and she was smiling at him. Her teeth were straight, and the smile on her face reminded him strongly of Sakura. She was roughly Sakura's height (a little shorter) and weight, but their similarities pretty much ended there. Where Sakura was willowy with small curves, Akemi was shapely, with wide, child-bearing hips and a chest that was only slightly larger than Sakura's. From what he could tell from the pictures provided to him as well as his latest memories of Sakura, both women had voluptuous backsides. If he were being honest, Sasuke would have preferred to start the revival with Sakura, not because of any romantic feelings towards the pinkette (he almost shuddered at the thought), simply from familiarity with his old teammate. But, apparently, (according to Karin and Suigestsu) trying to kill someone made all their thoughts of procreating with you vanish completely. So he would make do with what was available to him. He again shifted the pictures and peridot green eyes stared up at him, a mane of curly, black hair taking up most of the camera frame. He didn't really remember the kunoichi from his days in Konohagakure. Of course, she was almost a year and a half older than him and had taken her Chunnin Exams the year before Team 7 had. She was also civilian born, so their paths wouldn't have crossed at any Clan meetings before the Massacre had happened. One of the factors that ruled in his choosing her over Yamanaka Ino or Hyuuga Hinata was the fact that she _was_ from a civilian family that had no previous shinobi history. His Sharingan bloodline limit would be passed down to his heirs with no interference from another Kekkei Genkai. He could only hope that there was a brain somewhere between her ears, he really didn't want to tie himself to an idiot. He glanced back down at Koizumi Akemi. She had a gentle look about her, but a fierceness of her own glinted in her eyes and the determined set of her shoulders. The squawk of a messenger bird drew his attention away from the pictures in hands. The pigeon turned its beady eyes to him and stuck out its left leg obediently. Tied there was a letter, with the Godaime's wax seal. He fought with the bird for a moment, before untying the letter and pealing it opened.

"_I, Koizumi Akemi, of sound state of mind, do hereby accept the marriage proposal of Uchiha Sasuke."_

Sasuke smirked, and then finished reading the letter of acceptance before grabbing his own pen and paper and starting a response to the Hokage's unasked questions. A/N: Footnote time! *1: For all the American readers, 162 cm is roughly 5 feet 3 inches tall. *2: Again for my American readers, 55 kg is 121 pounds. *3: According to Narutopedia, Sasuke is 182 cm tall, which is roughly 6 feet tall.

*4: Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes, or bronchi, that bring air into the lungs. Inflammation is a chemical reaction in the body that produces redness, swelling, and pain.

*5: Also known as Azithromycin. Azithromycin is an antibiotic that fights bacteria. Azithromycin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as respiratory infections, skin infections, ear infections, and sexually transmitted diseases.

*6: The humerus is a long bone in the arm or forelimb that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, which consists of the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The upper extremity consists of a rounded head, a narrow neck, and two short processes (tubercles, sometimes called tuberosities). *7: A bone of the leg situated between the pelvis and knee in humans. It is the largest and strongest bone in the body.

*8: The metacarpus is the intermediate part of the hand skeleton that is located between the phalanges (bones of the fingers) and the carpus which forms the connection to the forearm. The metacarpus consists of metacarpal bones.

*9: A Boxer's Fractureis a fracture of the second or third metacarpal bones transverse neck secondary to an indirect force such as striking an object with a closed fist.

Hope this helped!


End file.
